LAS VEGAS – The defending WNBA champions just keep on rolling.
The Aces made it six wins in a row when they defeated the Los Angeles Sparks, 89-79, at the Michelob ULTRA Arena Tuesday night in their last home game of the regular season.
Advertisement
With just one game remaining — at Phoenix on Thursday — before the playoffs begin, it appears as though the Aces are hitting their stride at the perfect time. But head coach Becky Hammon expects an even higher level of excellence.
“I actually thought the game was kind of clunky,” she said. “Not a ton of flow to it. The ball moved decently. Defensively, I would have liked us to be locked in a little bit better, especially in the fourth quarter. But up until that point, I thought we were pretty good on both ends.”
The hosts’ offense shared the wealth in this one — predominantly facilitated by a season-high 11 assists from Jackie Young (and 14 points). A’ja Wilson added 18 points and 10 rebounds, her 19th double-double of the season — and Chelsea Gray chipped in 17 points, propelling the Aces to a comprehensive victory.
Stephanie Talbot chipped in a season-high 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting, along with three steals. Jewell Loyd poured in a welcome nine points on three makes from beyond the arc (3-6) off the bench.
Advertisement
The Aces built a 24-11 advantage in the first quarter — fueled by a fierce defensive effort — and never let it go. They held the Sparks to 31 percent (4-13) shooting from the field and 17 percent (1-6) from three-point range in the frame.
At the other end, Young pulled the strings from start to finish — creating a chunk of new history in the process. She passed Kristi Toliver for 25th all-time in assists with her second dime of the night. Her total was just three shy of her career-high.
Young continues to reach new levels as a playmaker — much to the Aces’ benefit — with this campaign’s 6.6 assists per game being a clear career best to date.
“Teams have thrown a lot of different coverages at her this year, and she has just kind of figured it out,” Hammon said. … “The defense is always going to give up something, and it’s her job to read what that is. … I think the commitment to playing the right way and just reading what the defense gives her, the game has slowed down for her exponentially in coverages that she’s seeing night in and night out.”
Advertisement
One of, if not the greatest, facilitator ever — Gray — also added her two cents on Young’s growth as a passer: “She puts the work in [and wants to get better] every year. You can keep doing the same thing you’ve been doing every year, or you can get better. Those are really the only two choices,” she said.
“She’s also taking some risks. She’s threading the needle sometimes, which before she wouldn’t normally do. She’s getting the ball to people in a multitude of ways, and when you’re able to do that in traffic, off pick-and-rolls, in transition, there is no scouting that. You can get [the ball] there, or you can score it. She’s such a threat as a scorer that she can read that quite well.”
Wilson joined Young with another history book visit of her own. Her first bucket of the night — coming off a Young dish — saw her set a new personal and franchise single-season scoring record, passing the 1,021-point mark she set in 2024. Wilson is now up to 1,039 and the only player ever to score over 1,000 in multiple seasons.
The win saw the Aces lock up the third seed heading into the playoffs, meaning they will have home court advantage come Sunday’s postseason opener. Their opponent for the best-of-three series is yet to be determined.
Advertisement
The Sparks — paced by 17 points from Nneka Ogwumike in her last-ever game in Las Vegas — got within single digits of the Aces a few times. However, an offensive avalanche from the Aces late in the third quarter all but iced the win for the hosts.
Three straight triples — two from Loyd and one from Wilson — extended the Aces’ lead to 62-45 with 1:58 remaining in the period. The hosts took a 65-51 advantage into the last 10 minutes. Vegas saw the game out comfortably, despite being outscored 28-24 in the fourth.
The Aces took the season series over the Sparks 3-1. They wrapped up the regular season with a 15-7 home record.
Comments
Advertisement